Not so Expensive Excursions?

[ciship]

I've been looking at excursions for months and doing a lot of research, but everything is SO expensive.  My husband and I like to walk trails and look for wildlife.  Is it possible to do this without paying for high priced guides and excursions?  We stop in Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria.  Help?

[oaktreerb]

Skagway visitor center has a map showing hikes graded as to difficulty.  We liked Smuggler’s Cove, 

There is another map showing sites around town.  There is also a nice museum in Skagway.  Also National Park exhibits.

 

Juneau is hilly but walkable to visit places like a Russian Church and the Governor’s house.  Mt Robert’s Tram is not very expensive and worth going to the top on a clear day.  There is also a hiking trail up top.

 

Ketchikan is easily walkable with Creek Street, Married Man’s Trail. etc.  You can also take the public bus around town and to a Totem Park.

 

Victoria is beautiful.  Walk down to the Inner Harbor and the Parliament building and stop along the way to see the houseboats.

 

Go online to the visitor’s bureau for each location.  You will find maps.

[SightCRR]

Type your "(port name) hiking" into youtube search and watch some videos. Pick the ones by individuals and not the ad ones. Port Monkeys do lots of walking. Juneau walk to whale statute a good one to start with. Nov 03 (youtube.com) You will see eagles and maybe salmon but likely no other wildlife without excursions. Whales will be long way off and fleeting glimpses. Forget Victoria as it is likely late night just to do Canada.  

 

[edinburgher]

17 hours ago, ciship said:

We stop in Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan,

 We are mostly independent cruis pax who mix  self guided walking tours, public transport and the occasional shorex or private tour depending on logistics and the attraction itself, because sometimes it is better to spend a little more to get the maximum benefit from a trip and to make memories.

 

 

.Not exactly a hiking trail, (although i suppose you could hike the few miles each way instead of using the public bus), but an easy, interesting  and inexpensive outing to a scenic setting.  Totem Bight. from Ketchikan. By coincidence at the time of my  posting, this thread for "all things Ketchikan" was directly under yours and probably a worthwhile read for you.

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2911191-utterly-stumped-about-what-to-do-in-ketchikan-help/

 

 

Juneau we did a whale watching tour as Juneau is one of the best locations for whale watching.  On a second visit we explored the town on foot and visited museums.

 

Skagway we took the  White Pass and Yukon rail/coach trip which was a fabulous day out.

 

 

 

Edited January 5 by edinburgher

[ciship]

All great suggestions!  Thank you!  I feel so much better that we don't really need to pay for high priced excursions. 

[Suzanne123]

You can use All Trails to find hikes in the ports. 

https://www.alltrails.com

 

[Heidi13]

On 1/4/2024 at 1:47 PM, ciship said:

I've been looking at excursions for months and doing a lot of research, but everything is SO expensive.  My husband and I like to walk trails and look for wildlife.  Is it possible to do this without paying for high priced guides and excursions?  We stop in Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria.  Help?

 

Haven't booked an excursion in Alaska for way too many years, we just wander ashore.

 

Skagway - you can wander around the town or take one of the treks. Just inland from the docks, across the railway line is the trail to Upper and Lower Dewey Lake. The lower lake is an easy hike up and around the lake, whereas the upper lake is a challenging hike, which I have only done once back in the 1970's, when I was much younger. Note - not sure how the recent landslide has impacted these trails and whether they are still available. Check at the visitor centre. You can also cross the river on the footbridge on the other side of town.

 

Juneau - lots of great walking routes around town, including across the bridge. You can take the gondola up the mountain, take a bus/cab out to the glacier visitor centre, where they have a trail network.

 

Ketchikan - again lots of options for walking around town - Creek St, up to Totem Park, along the waterfront, etc.

 

Victoria - departing Ogden Point head along Dallas Road heading into town. Stop at Fisherman's Wharf/Park. Just past the park, take the waterfront trail around the harbour. You can walk around town or cross Johnston St bridge and continue walking around the harbour. You can also catch one of the little harbour ferries, if they are still operating when you dock.

[Wavesprite]

5 hours ago, ciship said:

All great suggestions!  Thank you!  I feel so much better that we don't really need to pay for high priced excursions. 

Also, last year when we were in Juneau there was vendors offering the same as the ships tours for whale watching and things for about half price and you could haggle a bit.  

[SightCRR]

On 1/4/2024 at 1:47 PM, ciship said:

 Is it possible to do this without paying for high priced guides and excursions?  

Not sure what you consider high priced. With the exception of walking around the cities on your own and a couple trails just about every tour recommended above will be more than $100-200 per person.

You can skip the unforgettable $500-1000 flights and save those for your next trip to AK and I am guessing there will be a next trip.   

[edinburgher]

13 hours ago, SightCRR said:

just about every tour recommended above will be more than $100-200 per person.

The Totem Bight suggestion I made  is one of the exceptions.  Ketchikan public bus $2 pp each way, and entry, (as it is a  State Historical Park) is $5pp, so for $9 pp there is round trip bus and entry.

Edited January 6 by edinburgher

[disneyochem]

20 hours ago, edinburgher said:

The Totem Bight suggestion I made  is one of the exceptions.  Ketchikan public bus $2 pp each way, and entry, (as it is a  State Historical Park) is $5pp, so for $9 pp there is round trip bus and entry.

And taking the tram to Mt Roberts in Juneau is less than $100-200 per person!

 

OP, there are a number of activities to do in port that won’t break the bank!  I would recommend splurging on a whale watching tour while in Juneau.  It will be your best opportunity to see whales.  That being said, you might be able to see whales from the ship during the cruise.  This past summer, we had many whale sightings from the ships. One of our favorite was watching a whale from the back of the ship while in port in Ketchikan.  It was frolicking around and was a joy to watch!

 

In Ketchikan, I also recommend taking the public bus out to Totem Bight Park (we’ve done it a couple of times).  Also while in town, you can walk to the Totem Heritage Center ($6 pp), visit the Tongass Museum, watch the salmon in Creek Street (depending on the month) and stop in at the Science Discovery Center.

Skagway has great hikes of varying difficulties.  I also recommend downloading All Trails but you can also stop by the visitor center for a map.  We like to hike to the Lower Dewey Falls, Yakutania Point/Smuggler’s Cove, and the cemetery.  There is the Klondike National Park as well that offers exhibits and Ranger-led tours for $1 pp.  We’ll take a hike in the morning, have lunch at the Skagway Brewery and then take another walk afterwards.  
 

I love Victoria but I suspect your ship will be visiting the port in the early evening for just a couple of hours.  There will be shuttles to downtown—I think about $5 pp?  We’ve never taken them but prefer to walk into town.  It takes about 20 minutes.  If you have more time, the Hop On/Hop Off bus is an economical option.  Alternatively, you could turn right out of the port area and just walk along the sea walk visiting the Ogden Point Breakwater.  Beacon Hill Park is also a nice place to visit.

 

Enjoy your planning!

 

 

 

[edinburgher]

2 hours ago, disneyochem said:

In Ketchikan, I also recommend taking the public bus out to Totem Bight Park (we’ve done it a couple of times).  Also while in town, you can walk to the Totem Heritage Center ($6 pp), visit the Tongass Museum, watch the salmon in Creek Street (depending on the month)

one of the nice things about Totem Bight is that there is enough time left to explore Ketchikan itself.  We did the same as you stated with the exception of the Science Center.  Both times we visited Ketchikan it was  rather disappointingly the wrong time for the salmon, although  we did spot a couple of seals in the creek.

Edited January 7 by edinburgher

[SightCRR]

If taking the bus to Totem Bight study the bus route and get on one stop before most people which may be at the museum so you have more of a chance at a seat. Never mind this idea if docking at Ward Cove. Plus get the on-line descriptions of the totems in case they are not available at T/B. Also in Ketch if you have a National Park Pass bring it as the Discovery Museum is included.  In Juneau if taking the $50 tram have a plan B in case of fog/clouds and skip it if you can't see the top station or wait til later. 

[NothingBeatsBaseball]

In Juneau, if you can swing a Turo rental car there are lots of trails. Douglas Island has some awesome views. The beach there is really cool. The Turo we rental worked out great. We met the person across the street from the dock and drove off from there. 

[Northern Aurora]

What is often referred to as the "Discovery Museum" in Ketchikan is actually the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center.  They are located right downtown and easily walkable from the downtown piers.  Check their website as they recognize a number of park passes for free entrance.

[SoloAlaska]

In total my excursions will cost me under $200 this year. I mostly plan to hike and explore but this is my third time on an Alaskan cruise. Excursions are expensive but aren’t essential in my opinion. My first time in Ketchikan we saw a bear right in town but the people on the bear tour saw nothing… you can’t predict wildlife.

 

All Trails is great. Skagway I love hiking to Lower Dewey Lake and going for a very cold swim. Yakutania Point is suppose to be an easy trail with a beautiful view, I actually met the trail developer last year but wasn’t feeling well enough to even try it.

 

Victoria has the absolutely most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen. Just walking around the downtown touristy area is worth it.

 

Juneau can be a great spot for whale watching and I did a tour with a company that had a stall at the dock and it was incredible.

 

excursions in Alaska are expensive but they aren’t essential to enjoying Alaska. Don’t compare to others and just get out and explore.